Because You're My Student
by Green Tempest
Summary: Norma knew her teacher was a goofball. But she also understood that he was a good man who really chased his dreams. And Sven's passion is only fueled by the support of his precious student.


I had originally written this back in December for the Tales of Exchange Secret Santa community over at LJ. I hadn't played Legendia in quite a while, especially Norma's character quest, so please forgive any inconsistencies with the game in this fic.

The sun was so bright on that particular day. She held her thin arm above her face, an attempt to block out the shining yellow rays that hindered her ability to take a nap. Only the green leaves on the branches above her served as a shield for her eyes. Realizing that this particular day was so beautiful that it'd be impossible to win the battle, she slowly scooted up against the tree she had been leaning against. A book sat, opened, on her stomach. She absentmindedly rubbed her eyes. She must have fallen asleep while reading. Normally it would take a certain… wake-up call from her teacher to get her to wake up from her naps. She was normally such a heavy sleeper.

"Gooood morning, Norma!"

Right along with the loud and unexpected greeting came the man dressed in green prancing toward her. Norma was unsure whether she was excited to see him or whether she wanted to send a kick towards his weak point for disturbing her peace and quiet. Not that she was the quietest person, but she couldn't even hold a candle to her teacher and his energy.

"Any reason as to why you're so happy right now, Master?" Norma asked, stretching. Sven was a happy and positive person by nature, but today seemed… different to her in a way. It was a different kind of happiness.

"I just have a new hope today!" Sven happily plopped himself down next to his student and playfully wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He glanced up at the sky and smiled. "I mean, I have you here supporting me, don't I?"

Norma blushed a bit at this remark as she scooted a couple of inches away from the overly-peppy man. As much as she liked and admired him, his awkward advances and comments towards her sometimes made her uncomfortable. This was especially so since he was the type who was a tad unpredictable when it came to perverse actions.

Even though Norma tried to escape the loving hug that her teacher was trying to give her, Sven didn't budge. He continued staring dreamily up at the sky. Realizing her struggle was futile Norma gave up on her escape and joined her teacher in his cloud-gazing. She found this to be somewhat peaceful, even if Sven could be a weirdo. Yes, it was all so peaceful… Norma felt so relaxed. Sven was somebody she could really trust. That is, that's how she felt until she felt his arm slide further across her shoulders and the creeping touch of a hand getting a little too close to her chest area.

"What the hell are you doing, you pervert!?"

Norma immediately jumped up to one foot while the other foot was sent straight into the face of her teacher. The force of the kick sent his head crashing directly into the tree he was leaning against. In a daze, he smiled a bit, even though his head was throbbing. "Ah, such energy… to be a teenager again."

"Wipe that stupid smile off your face, you weirdo!" Norma scolded. "It's no wonder you don't have a girlfriend yet at your age!"

Sven rubbed the back of his head a bit, snapping out of his daze and sitting back upright. "Aw, that hurts, Norma. Why do you say that? And why did you kick me?"

"Don't play innocent with me! You totally just tried to pull over a perverted move on me! What are you, an old man?"

Sven sighed, looking at Norma with a look that said 'it wasn't me.' But Norma knew better than that. Before he received another kick to the head, Sven put up his hands in defense. "Now, now, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Unfortunately, that statement wasn't the best response and Sven's hands proved to be a weak defense against Norma's foot. After having his head knocked into the tree a second time, Sven decided that he should just fess up.

"Listen, Norma, it was an accident. I swear it. You know I'm not some old creepy pervert, right?" Sven smiled as an attempt to make his argument more convincing. Norma found herself unable to say no to a smile like that. He did have a point, after all. Sven wasn't some creepy old man that was just interested in Norma for all of the wrong reasons. Sven liked her so much and stayed with her because she was the only one who he felt really understood him. Even though she would often blow off his stories about the Everlight it didn't change the possibility that she also believed in it. Her belief in such a seemingly fictional concept was nowhere as strong as Sven's, however. He believed in the Everlight's existence so strongly that his own teacher expelled him.

That was something that Norma liked about Sven though. He had such determination and she found it inspiring. He was definitely a goofball, but the fact that he was so passionate about something really touched her.

Sven sat up again and massaged his temple a bit. He reached out his free hand towards Norma. "Listen, Norma, even though it was an accident, I'm sorry." He grinned. But this smile was a little different from what Norma was used to. Normally, he was loud and obnoxious and his grins were big and goofy, just like he was. But this smile held a sincerity to it she hadn't recalled seeing in her teacher before.

Realizing this, Norma offered a smile as well as she clasped Sven's hand. They stood for a few seconds, simply smiling at each other. It was as if they had reached a mutual understanding without any words.

"Alright, Master, I'll let you off the hook this once." Norma pulled at Sven's arm, trying to encourage him to stand up. Sven just sat there and smiled.

"You were sleeping before I came out here, right?" he asked. Norma just nodded. "Well, in that case, you should continue where you left off. I may even want to join you."

Norma let go of Sven's hand and sat herself down next to him again. "Sounds good!" she answered cheerfully. "I'm beat."

"From beating me up?" Sven laughed.

"Yup! I've gotta recharge just in case you do anything stupid again!" With that, Norma laid in the grass, curling up into her most comfortable sleeping position. Sven glanced down at her. It hadn't taken her very long to dose off and enter her own little dream world. Sven leaned back against the big tree and closed his eyes. He had a fun idea in mind, but he figured it could wait until Norma woke up.

XXXXXXXXX

"Nooorrmaaa."

Sven had his hand placed on the girl's shoulder, shaking her gently.

"Hey, Norma, wakey-wakey time!" He shook harder.

His only response was a loud groan.

Fortunately, Sven was used to Norma's naps. He leaned over next to her sleeping face and gently grabbed her nose with his thumb and index finger. He waited a few seconds before her unconscious reflexes caused her to try and smack his hand away. Sven pulled back his hand in response. Since that tactic failed, there was only one other way he knew would work. He slowly moved his face next to hers and smiled happily.

"Norrrmaaa… Wake UP!"

The sound of Sven's overly happy shouts directly into her ear caused Norma to shoot up from her deep sleep and smack her head against his. Groaning, she fell back down into the grass, holding her head.

"Jeez, Master!! You have such a hard head!"

Sven sat back with one hand supporting his weight while the other rubbed his own head. "Aw, come now! It's not that bad, now is it?" He shook his head to make the blood flow a bit more normally and then hopped up to his feet. "Besides, today we need to go on an adventure! I may have got some leads on the Everlight before I came here"

Norma pushed herself into a sitting position and looked up at him. "Man, you're sure back to normal, Master. You acted so serious yesterday."

"Ah, now there's just no need to be so serious all of the time! I mean, I'm serious about looking for the Everlight, but you've gotta lighten up a bit if you ever want to have fun!" Sven beamed. He grabbed Norma's hand and forcefully pulled her to her feet.

Realizing that Sven was right, Norma grinned. Their adventures together were usually a lot of fun and it would be a good refreshing trip after all of the studying she'd been doing lately. She suddenly seemed even more enthusiastic than Sven and clasped his hand tightly. "All riiiight, Master! Let's go look for the Everlight." She began running, pulling him along behind her.

"Whoa! Norma, you're still a teenager and are a lot faster than me! I don't know if I can keep up!"

"Well, then you'll just have to try to keep up, Master!" Norma called back. She let go of his hand, letting Sven stop and lean over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "I thought you were in better shape than this!"

Once he was able to breathe again, Sven glanced up at Norma's figure moving so much further away from him. "Wait up! You're not even sure where we're going!"

Realizing he was right, Norma stopped dead in her tracks. "Hmm, oh yeah! Well, then, Master, you'd better learn to run faster than that so we can get moving on this adventure of yours!" She laughed and then gazed around. There were so many trees in this particular area but she hadn't really noticed that they were no longer in the grassy field from before. Then, something caught her eye. She glanced down; there was a small square patch that was all dirt instead of grass. She took a quick glance around her, then knelt down next to the dirt patch.

Sven, realizing what that small patch of dirt was, rushed forward towards Norma as quickly as he was able. "Norma, wait! That's a—"

Realizing that he had made it over to Norma quicker than he expected, Sven tried to come to a stop as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he ran a tad too far and one foot was planted on the dirt patch. He tried his best to jump back, but it was too late. His weight on the dirt below set off the trap net that enclosed him and pulled his curled up form inside the net up towards the trees. "…trap" he finished, sighing.

Norma couldn't help but giggle seeing her master in such a pathetic position. "Don't worry, Master, I'll get you down from there!" She looked around as she advanced towards the tree that Sven was hanging from. She studied the tree more closely and found one discolored piece of bark on it. "This looks like it should work."

Sven could just barely see Norma's actions from the uncomfortable position he was in inside the net. But he was able to see clearly enough to realize that if Norma found a way to get him down, it would probably involve him crashing to the ground in a painful manner. "Uh, Norma, I can't really see what you're doing, but maybe you should consider—"

"What is it, Master?" Norma asked, looking up at him as she unconsciously placed her hand against the discolored piece of bark.

Sven sighed as he felt the net loosen around him and then come unattached from the tree branch completely. He landed on his rear with a loud thud. He rubbed his sore behind, groaning.

Norma rushed over to him and gave him the victory sign. "See! I told you that I'd get you out of there!"

Though he didn't care much for Norma's tactic, Sven couldn't argue with her. He was free, even if he was left with a sore bottom. Even though Norma was quick to act and didn't really think things through, he admired her willingness to try. Norma gave him a hand and pulled him to his feet. Sven knew that Norma always had the best intentions even though it didn't always seem that way. As he was an inspiration to her, she was an inspiration to him.

"You know, Norma…"

Norma glanced up at her master curiously. He sounded so serious, yet so calm at the same time.

"I doubt I would've come this far if it wasn't for all of your support." Sven couldn't help but turn a bit red, admitting this. It was hard for him to be so incredibly serious, especially when he was in the presence of Norma. "I can keep going because you're here with me." Sven wrapped an arm around Norma's shoulders and smiled a warm smile. Norma didn't react; she just continued to stand there, slightly confused at her teacher's sudden honestly and seriousness. The two of them glanced up. The sky was becoming darker as the day reached its end. Norma looked up at her teacher. He was still smiling brightly, but in a calmer, more peaceful way. Seeing this, Norma couldn't help but smile as well.

"It's because you're my student that I've come this far."


End file.
